The Nettle Tree – Jun 12 2016 : by Kenneth Weene (Editor), Bye Clifford Clayton (Editor)
Strangely Different Stories ... The Nettle Tree, edited by Kenneth Weene and Clayton Bye, is a collection of genre stretching and busting stories by some of the most talented writers we have. Their challenge was to write strangely different western stories in a format of 3,000 words or less and to take you to places traditional westerns have never taken you. We think they have succeeded admirably. And with powerhouse writers, some known and others whom readers will find delightful discoveries, you will not be disappointed. Available in e-book and trade paperback.You can find a copy at www.BookFinder.com and other online sites.
Here's a quote from Casey's story:
Long afterward, when the dark, foggy afternoon had turned to a darker, moonless, still foggy night, and the horses’s shod hooves slipped across sheer rock and crunched over stones, I concentrated on hanging on to the saddle horn over the steepest bits and enjoying the cooling air, and the way the mountain breezes tangled with my hair. When I thought we’d gone as far as we could go for one night I still kept my counsel and rested on the strong, slow, hard-working body of my horse. I let my thoughts drift toward Vancouver, and back again to mother and dad, and finally skitter over to the edge of sleep.
In that half-sleeping, half-waking state I popped in and out of dreams. Mostly my mother, ever a mystery, staring down at me, arms crossed, thinking. And a weird emanation of fog sort of flowing off of her like dry ice. Just a little at first, then more and more till she grew translucent and started to fade away. That’s when I’d jerk awake. She’d be gone, and I’d be swaddled in that ever-present fog.
